Shocker
by fullmoonrisin
Summary: Greg is attacked, much to the dismay of Sara, and the attack turns out to be related to a string of violent crimes throughout Las Vegas.Sandle, leave comments! No spam comments please!
1. Not Fannysmacked

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or CSI characters, please don't sue.

A/N: I changed the CSI chronology a little bit so the story takes place in the 4th season but the events of Living Doll, Dead Doll, and Fannysmackin' have already happened. Also Gil and Sara are not dating. Enjoy!!

Chapter 1: A Bloody Mess

It was a normal day in the Las Vegas Crime Lab for our six favorite CSI. All of who were in the Break Room, save for Grissom and Greg, trying to entertain themselves. It was a normal _December_ day in the crime lab so that meant that there weren't many cases to be solved. Nick and Warrick were playing Madden '08 on the six-month-old Wii system; Sara was reading a magazine on the couch, laughing silently at their antics on occasion. Catherine's upper half was buried in the nuclear wasteland that was the fridge; she finally emerged and sat down just as Greg stumbled through the door clutching his "little boys".

"What happened to you, man?" Nick asked, looking away from the TV and tossing the remote into it. "Shit!" he exclaimed, as he turned to see electricity crackling through the hole in the TV.

"Anyway, what happened?" Nick asked again, thinking of how Grissom was going to kill him as he pulled his eyes of the TV and looked at Greg; who was slowly recovering from his testicular trauma.

"Oh, my cousin got on her menstrual cycle, and she just decided to plow over my ass with it." Greg grinned sheepishly, finally taking his hands off of his groin.

"You know, I just bought one of those, I thought I might test drive it later." Sara said with an evil grin, looking Greg directly in the eyes. Greg ran out of the room screaming, leaving the room in a fit of hysterics. Warrick was the first to contain his laughter.

" Uh, Sara, you're not really uh…?" Warrick started, beginning to back away from her.

" No, I just wanted to see his reaction." Sara said, smiling mischievously

A moment later, Grissom enter the room and tossed a folder on the table, pausing to allow his team to get into work mode.

"Alright, we got two crime scenes, four DB's, one at a condo east of here, the other three at a house on the north side. Warrick, Nick, and Sara; you three will process the triple murder. Catherine and I will take Gr…" he trailed off, searching the room for the youngest CSI.

"Where _is_ Greg?" Grissom asked, just in time for the emergency alert on everyone's phone to go off. Nick picked his up first. It was Greg. He opened it and put it on speakerphone for all to hear.

"H-h-help m-me!" Greg rasped over the phone in an uncharacteristically pained voice.

-------------------------Flashback--------------------------------------------------

"_You know, I just bought one of those, I thought I might test drive it later." _Shit Sara could really be scary sometimes, Greg thought as he hurried down the hallway; but that was one of the things he loved about her. His thoughts were interrupted by a text on his cell phone from his cousin.

_Meet me in the parking garage ;)_

_Bye_

He put his phone away and headed in that direction. And he was there in a few minutes.

"Marie?" he called, entering the garage. Suddenly, he felt a sharp blow to his back. He fell over, gasping for air. When he saw his assailant, he was floored.

"Marie? Why?" He was answered with a kick to his head. Then, he noticed her pull out what looked like a high-end electric gun.

"_Oh crap!" _Greg thought, clutching his cell phone.

---------------------------End Flashback---------------------------------------------------------------

"He's in the garage." Warrick said, slapping his laptop shut after a tense thirty seconds of tracing Greg's phone. The entire team had gone pale after hearing that phone call and not one of them had returned to normal color yet. Sara was the first out the door, followed closely by Nick, Catherine, Grissom, and Warrick. Each of them had their guns out already with their hands on their flashlights. They wasted no time in getting to the parking garage.

"Wait for my signal." Grissom told Sara, she nodded as he pointed his flashlight at the ground and Catherine trained hers ahead. They moved through the garage slowly that way. Sara had her gun at the ready; Warrick and Greg had their hands on their holsters. They stopped as Grissom's light found a trail of blood, and not far from it, a cell phone. He pointed his light ahead a few feet where they saw Greg trying with all of his strength to crawl away from something.

"Look." Nick whispered, pointing to a shadowy figure that was approaching Greg. Sara swallowed, getting ready for the signal. Her anger was rising with each step the shape took. They watched as the figure pulled out a shiny object, presumably a weapon, and brandished it at Greg. It was then that Grissom gave his signal. Sara fired at the mysterious shadow, not stopping until it fell to the ground in a black heap. The garage was now silent, only the sounds of Greg's ragged breaths were heard as the team approached to check on him.

"Shit!" Nick gasped, while everyone else remained too shocked for words. Greg was covered in burn marks that surrounded his open wounds. Sara looked like she'd just seen a ghost and everyone else looked horrified and disgusted. They jumped back as the remnants of an electric charge flowed through Greg's hair. Sara kneeled next to him and carefully placed a hand on his chest.

"H-h-hey guys…" Greg rasped, trying to smile.

"I have to hand it to you, you may be on the scrawny side but you're tough." Sara told Greg, attempting, and probably failing miserably, to hide her worry.

"I-it's n-not that bad. At least it w-was something a little b-bit m-more dignifying than being fanny smacked." Greg wheezed painfully

"Well we're all very glad that you're okay Greg, but we still have two crime scenes to investigate." Grissom said as sympathetically as he could. He hated to break up one of Greg and Sara's "cute" moments, as Cath called them, but work was work, and besides, the rest of the team had a plan to get them to admit their feelings later.

"Okay…" Sara pouted, standing up from the cold ground.

"Change of plans," Grissom started, so he could get everyone's attention off Greg for a moment. "Sara, Warrick, and Catherine, you will take the triple murder downtown. Nick and I will wait until Greg is picked up, then we'll go to the east end and check things out." He announced, everyone nodded and walked off after waving to Greg a final time. When they were out of the Garage, Catherine pulled Rick aside after Sara had disappeared from sight.

"This is the perfect opportunity for them!" Catherine said with enthusiasm

"What do you mean?" Warrick looked at her strangely

"Don't you see? When Greg is discharged, we can say that the doctors told us he isn't well enough to live alone yet. Then we can all make up excuses not to do it until Sara agrees to it." Catherine smiled devilishly

"You know, that's just crazy enough to work. You're evil Cath." Warrick said with a cool grin on his face

"I know." Catherine replied, returning his smile and heading towards the locker room.


	2. Puzzle Pieces

I still don't own CSI…

Ch. 2: Puzzle Pieces

In the morgue, Doc Robbins was in the final stages of the autopsy on Marie Sanders. He carefully scrutinized every inch and area of the body and left no detail unnoticed. This went on until Nick walked in to inquire about his findings.

"What's up, Doc?" Nick greeted and asked as he stood beside Robbins and began his own assessment of the body.

"The usual, just sifting through corpses for evidence. Speaking of, didn't Greg say that this girl was on her menstrual cycle?" The good doctor asked casually, nonchalantly prodding at the bullet wounds on her body.

"Yeah, why?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow. The topic of periods was always something that made him uncomfortable, and even frightened him when referring to Sara or Catherine.

"Well, there is no evidence of any kind of vaginal bleed or even a discharge, and her face is completely clear. Most women tend to break out before and during their periods." Robbins said, nodding towards her face and twisting his own to suggest that this was an awkward subject for him as well. "And look here, what do you see?" He asked Nick, pointing to her eyes. There were trails of wetness running down both cheeks like roads.

"Tearstains?" Nick said questioningly, receiving a nod from Doc. "Maybe they could've been from pain. She _was_ shot." Nick said, looking the coroner in the eye.

"Ah, yes. That would explain this, _if _she had nerve endings. Apparently, Marie here was born without nerve endings due to a complication of the pregnancy." Doc said flatly, "and from what I've heard, the Sanders family is very close." Doc paused, waiting for Nick to put the puzzle together.

"So she didn't want to hurt Greg." Nick said, beginning to get a headache.

"No, definitely not. It's my professional opinion that she was forced." The Doc said, closing the curtain on their evaluation.

-----------------------------------The Crime Scene----------------------------------------------------

Warrick, Catherine, and Sara had just arrived at the crime scene, and just the sight of the perimeter told them that they were in for a gruesome sight. They counted at least ten spots where someone had lost their lunch. Even Brass, a man whose stomach was made of iron, was puking on the lawn a few feet ahead of them.

"That's a bad sign." Sara said, patting Jim on the back as they walked past.

"A VERY bad sign." Catherine agreed, locking her eyes onto the bloody door.

Warrick was the first to enter the threshold and lay eyes on the bloody scene of dismemberment and death.

"Oh my God!!" He yelled, turning away as he covered his nose and stifled a gag. He'd seen many things in his years as a CSI, but this was by far the worst.

"Okay, breath through your mouths guys." Catherine said, holding onto the door since Warrick had refused to go in first this time. They all took one last breath of fresh air before Sara spoke.

"You know, I've tried that before, but apparently the smell of rotting death is one of those scents that drifts into your mouth and lingers in your throat." Sara said, gagging at the memory of her first decomp. Catherine rolled her eyes and opened the door, the smell of gallons upon gallons of old blood and rotting flesh poured out. Sara gagged, gawking at the limbless torso in the middle of the room. The walls were completely coated with blood and the carpet was the same except for a few bare spots.

"Look at this." Catherine said, taking a picture of a wall that had less blood on it that the others.

"Burn marks." Sara noted, taking her hand off of her nose and retching as the particularly foul odor attacked her sense of smell again. She turned to take a picture of the torso.

"Greg had burn marks on him." Warrick continued the puzzle, being careful not to breathe through his nose.

"And so does this 'guy'" Sara said, drawing attention to the burn marks on the torso.

Now composed, Brass stood in the doorway, struggling against the stench. He cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention. "The, uh, other bodies, if you can call them that, are in the back bedroom." Brass said, pointing down the hall before hurrying away from the smell. When the team finished the living room and entered the bedroom, they were all thrown onto a whole new level of shock and awe and disgust. What they saw was utterly morbid and completely macabre, if their jaws could've reached they floor, they would have.

"Ugh, there is not a word in the dictionary to say how sick and wrong that is!" Sara exclaimed with eyes as wide as dinner plates. There, in the middle of the bed, in this bloody mess of a room, there was a head on a stick. It wasn't even a complete head, the eyes were gouged out, and they could see that the tongue had been ripped out because the mouth was hanging open. Several tufts of hair were also missing from this very unfortunate head.

"Jesus…" Warrick muttered, unable to get over his state of shock.

"I don't think Jesus had a thing to do with this." Catherine said grimly, beginning to compose herself. Sara couldn't take the assault on her senses anymore, she ran to the nearby open window and hurled, then looked embarrassed at losing control over her gag reflex. The team then began processing, taking photos, and scouring the house for any sign of identification for any of the victims.

-----------------------------Grissom's Office---------------------------------------------

Grissom sat in his chair, analyzing a strange, pronged, instrument in silence. After moments of turning the instrument over in his hands, he is interrupted when Nick enters his office.

"Is that Marie's weapon?" Nick asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, it appears to be a top of the line tazer. There are only a few of this type made every four years. They're capable of enough voltage to make a person explode." Grissom explained in his usual casual tone.

"What did Doc say?" he went on, still turning the weapon over in his hands.

"Doc thinks she was forced to attack Greg." Nick answered, he was only four hours into a double shift and already he felt exhausted.

"If that's true, then there could be several potential killers out there." Grissom said, locking eyes with Nick.

-------------------------------------------The Lab--------------------------------------------

Sara was in the lab analyzing the blood found in the house from the three victims. She sighed in exasperation, as the third vic had no match in the database.

'This is going to be a _long_ case.' She thought to herself, slamming her hand on the keyboard. The blood samples weren't turning up matches in the database; there were no prints at the crime scene so the blood was all that they had to go on.

"I give up." She said standing up and heading to the break room for some much needed coffee. On the way there, she wondered, 'What would Greg do?'


	3. Confusion, Assurance, Frustration

Disclaimer: My name is not Anthony Zuiker or Jerry Bruckheimer, so obviously I don't own CSI

Disclaimer: My name is not Anthony Zuiker or Jerry Bruckheimer, so obviously I don't own CSI. If I did, GSR would stand for Greg/Sara Romance.

**Those of you who have been reading, I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with school but summer's here! Anyway, you've waited long enough, on with the story!!**

Chapter 3: Recovering, Assurance, & Frustration

Greg didn't remember much about the past twelve hours. The parts he could remember came to him in blurred masses, garbled sounds, and strange colors. He remembered the surreal feeling he had when he was laying helpless and bleeding on the cold parking garage floor, and the seemingly distant sound of gunfire, confirming his salvation from an unlikely assailant. Greg vaguely, vaguely, remembered the hustle of doctors and nurses upon his arrival into the emergency room as they tried to prevent blood loss from the many gashes on his body. One thing he clearly remembered was Sara. Sara Sidle, his savior, his mentor, his inspiration, his _love._ Yes, he could almost smell that "Sidle" scent, as he called it, right at that moment…wait…he _could _smell it.

Slowly and groggily Greg opened his eyes and his blurry vision soon gave way to his regular 20/20 eyesight. His senses had not deceived him. Sara was at the edge of the bed with her head resting on his right arm.

"Sara…" He breathed, in a barely audible yet firm voice. He was still to weak to speak much louder, but he got her attention.

"Hey, you're awake." She said, sitting up and flashing him her gapped smile. Greg had the feeling that she hadn't even thought about smiling for the past twelve hours. She looked thoroughly exhausted and completely frustrated, but still beautiful in his eyes. He didn't care, she could shower in decomposed body fluids and roll around in the garbage and he still would think that she was the most beautiful person he'd ever set his eyes on.

"Earth to Greggo…" Greg snapped out of his trance to see Sara's hand waving in front of his face

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly before his face fell in pain. He tried not to let Sara see, but she was too quick. She frowned, taking his hand in hers and spoke.

"Hey Greg, I'm sorry about that crack I made earlier. It was mean and it could've been the last thing I ever said to you." Sara said, looking at the floor

"No that's fine, I exaggerated anyway. Besides, you shouldn't hold onto the past so much. If you do that too much, it gets harder live in the present and look to the future." Greg said in one of his rare philosophical moments as he grasped his side.

"It's our job to focus on the past." Sara pointed out, just to see Greg's response, she could tell he was thinking of a good one by the grin playing on his lips.

"Technically, our _job _is analyzing forensic evidence such as DNA, fabric, and GSR to piece together what happened in the past, not to directly analyze the past itself and wonder why things that we can't change happened the way that they did." Greg said, sounding very much like a dictionary

"So, how's the case?" Greg asked, changing the subject

"The North Pole isn't as cold as this case, Greg." Sara chuckled with frustration and pushed her hair back. "We got nothing to go on yet. Not even the blood samples from the triple murder got us anywhere, which by the way is connected to your attack. Can you top that?" Sara finished, flashing a smile that said, "The world can fuck off."

"Hey, chin up Sidle." Greg said "You and I both know that there is no way to commit any kind of crime without leaving some kind of evidence. Whoever's doing this is bound to slip up and leave something big sooner or later." Greg said, squeezing Sara's hand.

"You know what Greg? Thanks for that." Sara stood and kissed the top of his head before leaving.

--Autopsy Room--

"So, what's the verdict, Doc?" Grissom asked Robbins as he walked into the autopsy room with his folder.

"Definitely a homicide, Griss." Doc said, shaking his head "Tox results came back. She had heavy but not lethal doses of Hydrocodon in her system, no alcohol present." The Doc assessed.

"That explains why there were no signs of a struggle. Do you think that she could've been addicted to pain meds?" Grissom asked, eyeing a ring on her left ring finger. "It's possible, I'll no more once you can get a hold of some relatives." Doc answered

"Hey, could I take that ring please?" Grissom asked as Doc nodded and used a gloved hand to place it in a sterile plastic bag for Grissom.

"I'll be back Albert." Grissom said, leaving the room.

-- Brass' Office--

Walking into Jim's office, Grissom cleared his throat.

"You paged me, Brass?" Grissom questioned, raising an eyebrow as he always did when he was curious.

Brass stood from his chair, "Yeah, your jumper's name is Tanya Ericson. Her husband, Kevin, filed a missing persons report matching her description. He's here to ID the body." Brass said, heading to the door with Grissom.

The Lab

Sara walked into the lab and was almost plowed over by Catherine. Catherine smiled upon seeing her and said:

"We have a match to our victims, well, partial match anyway."

Sara raised a brow and cocked her head. "A partial match?" She asked, willing Catherine to elaborate.

"Well, since Greg's attack and the murders were related, I thought maybe the victims would be. I compared the victims' DNA to an employee sample of Greg's; it turns out all three are related to him. One was his father, I also identified traces of his mother's blood from the blood we took from the scene." Catherine explained, smiling grimly as Sara's jaw got lower and lower with each word.

Recovering from her shock, Sara managed to ask a single question.

"D-do you have any suspects yet?" She asked, still dazed. This was definitely a grudge crime now, and she couldn't fathom why anyone would hold a grudge against any member of the Sanders family. Greg spoke of his family often and they sounded like kind, honest, decent people.

"Warrick tracked down one so far. He left this morning for a golf tournament in Miami though. His name is Terry Alsup, (A/N: He really is my uncle and really was a pro golfer at one time.) he runs the John Jacobs Golf School downtown. Heard of it?" Catherine asked, trying to make conversation to compensate for overloading Sara with information.

"Yeah, I heard Grissom and Brass talk about it a couple times. Hey listen—I'm gonna go visit Greg again and give him the news." Sara said turning around to leave

"Break it to him gently, he's still recovering!" Catherine called, leaving Sara to ask:

'Should I tell him about his parents, his mother?'

**Wow, it's good to be back! Please R &R, and again: Sorry for the wait. I think I actually had to dust this file off on Word, lol**


	4. Paint it Red

Please show me some love

**Please show me some love!! Via Reviews!! I still don't own CSI, dang it!! BTW, in the 1****st**** chapter, where it says that the second crime involved 4 Vics; its only one. I messed up typing and didn't catch it.**

Chapter 4: Paint it Red

Gil Grissom sat at his desk, examining the pronged weapon for what seemed to be the billionth time. He turned it over in his hands, carefully scrutinizing every square inch; making sure that there were absolutely no prints that had been missed. Finding none, he sat back and continued to watch the PGA tour on his small TV screen…at least until Conrad Ecklie barged into his office.

"Can I help you, Conrad?" He asked, looking up with an annoyance in his eyes that wasn't conveyed by his voice.

"You can tell me why the hell you haven't brought the one suspect you do have in the Sanders case in for questioning!" Ecklie retorted, not missing a beat.

Looking over the top of his glasses, Grissom replied simply, "See for your self."

As he motioned to the television, which was still on golf; Ecklie grew furious and stormed out of the office, nearly trampling an aloof Sara in the process.

"Jackass." Sara muttered once she was sure that he was out of earshot.

Before Sara could continue her gloomy, almost zombie like procession down the crime lab corridors; head buried in the Sander's case file, Grissom beckoned her.

"Sara." He called, waving her in. The concern that plucked through the soft chords of his mellow voice told Sara that she was about to receive a lecture.

"Grissom, don't you have a case to work on?" Sara asked, stalling the inevitable and hoping she wouldn't get a lecture.

"Yes, I'm working the Sanders case, everyone is. I passed off the "jumper" to day shift so every one would be free to work this case." Sara raised a weary eyebrow at him.

"Then why were you watching the suspect on the golf channel?"

"Sara, I didn't call you in here for social hour. I called you in here to talk you into taking a break. Go home…for at least a day." Grissom said almost pleading with her even though his expression remained stern.

Sara's expression hardened. "Grissom, this case is personal for all of us. I'm not going home until we find out who killed Greg's family!" She snapped

Grissom merely looked at her calmly…as though he were examining one of his bugs.

"Sara, you of all people should know that I am not blind. I can see that you love him; we all see it, but you're hurting yourself trying to help him." Grissom paused to wipe his glasses. "you haven't slept in almost three days, you're running on coffee, and for the past day you've had bags under your eyes with enough luggage in them to go to Europe. You need sleep Sara." Grissom lectured, being careful not to push any buttons.

"I'm not leaving." Sara said firmly, bloodshot brown eyes locking on tired green eyes. Grissom sighed in exasperation at his stubborn pupil.

"Then at least go take a nap in the break room. I'll have Catherine alert you if anything new turns up." Grissom said, putting an end to the argument.

"And Sara…" he said as she step through the threshold "I like to watch golf."

"You paged?" a certain redhead celled walking into the DNA lab. Standing behind a lab table, Wendy Simms replied. "Yes, I did."

"So…what's the news?" Catherine asked anxiously. She, like the rest of night shift, had become accustomed to dead ends and serious lack of evidence in this case.

"You know that carpet you ripped up from the scene?" Wendy asked conversationally

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, there was a lot of blood on that thing."

"Not as much as you think." Wendy replied with an 'I know something you don't.' look on her face.

"What do you mean!? I was there, I saw the carpet." Catherine stammered incredulously.

"What carries oxygen throughout the body, contains leukocytes, and turns brown when dry?" Wendy riddled

"Blood." Catherine answered, unsure of where this was going.

"Now, what's red, comes in acrylic and tempera, and costs about ten bucks a can at most hard ware stores?"

"Red…paint?" Catherine stammered walking over to the carpet.

"You got it. I checked with Robbins and the vics all wore size thirteen men's. Every one of these paint prints is a size eleven men's shoe." Wendy explained.

"Yeah, and they're all the same tread, which means one killer." Catherine said lifting one of the prints from the carpet.

"Thanks Wendy." Catherine said, as she strode out the doors to go find Sara.

Greg lay in his hospital bed, struggling to find a comfortable position so he could sleep. Suddenly, he was jolted out of his drowsy state by a wave of electricity surging through his body. He looked up and saw a black hooded figure and screamed the first name that came to mind.

"SARA!! HELP ME!! SARA!!" He continued to scream and cry in agony as he clawed at the cloaked figure.

"SARA!! Sara…wake up." Greg's screams gave way to Catherine's as Sara was pulled from her worst nightmare. Subconsciously, she clung to Catherine like she was a raft in the middle of a river.

"Bad dream?" Catherine asked, wiggling out of the tight grip and straightening her green blouse.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Sara asked, raising an eyebrow

"You were clawing in your sleep and screaming bloody murder for Greg." Catherine replied, smiling knowingly at the younger woman.

"Anyway, we've got a break through. Wendy found prints on that carpet we ripped up, and get this…they were paint prints. The killer painted over all of his foot prints."

"Sweet! Let's go see if we can get a shoe brand!" Sara perked up and practically bolted out the door, leaving a chuckling Catherine in her dust.

**I'm sorry if the ending seems a little abrupt. I just didn't know how to end this chapter. Anyway, please R & R!!**


	5. On The Trail of an Old Flame

Hey again

Hey again!! I still have no share of CSI. Anyway, enjoy the read and please leave me some reviews. )

Chapter 5: The Path of an Old Flame

"Hey Archie." Catherine greeted as she walked into the A/V lab, followed by Sara.

"Hey, whatcha got for me?" Archie asked, leaning back in his chair. He was still watching a Jet Li movie and hadn't bothered to turn it off.

"We need you to track a shoe print to its owner." Sara said, smiling at his objections as she turned his movie off.

Minutes later, Archie had pulled the cover off of a special computer made for eliminating irrelevant factors. Grissom had insisted on buying one after the I-15 murder case.

"I knew I'd get to use this someday." Archie said, starting it and turning on the monitor. Glancing towards Catherine and Sara he said "Okay, shoot."

"Eliminate all men who do not wear size 11 shoes."

"Eliminate all men who did not buy paint in the last two weeks." Sara said, testing the machine. Catherine smiled at her; "Eliminate all men who do not have access to military grade tazers."

" Eliminate all men who do not own a pair of size 11 Nike Shox."

"Now, eliminate all men who have no contact with Greg Sander and his family."

This final command left only one name, and all three people in the room were stunned into silence. On the screen flashed the name of their only suspect and probable murderer…Hank Pettigrew.

Catherine's cell phone broke the stunned silence, looking down at the caller ID, she saw Brass on the bright screen.

"Willows." She answered, only to be bombarded with orders from the homicide detective.

"Get to the hospital…NOW!! And DO NOT bring Sara." Brass said, stressing the importance of the last part.

"Brass, what happened to Greg?" She stopped as she realized her mistake of sounding worried and mentioning Greg in front of Sara.

'Shit, Brass is gonna kill me.' She thought as Bras continued talking

"Greg's been kidnapped. A nurse checked in on him an hour ago and she found blood on the walls and an open window. Greg's hospital gown was laying on the bed."

"One HOUR…Jesus Jim, how long have you known?!" Catherine ranted, but stopped as she saw that Sara's eyes were growing wide with horror as she listened to Catherine's end of the conversation.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." She said, hanging up and looking at Sara.

"I'm going…" Sara said quietly but firmly

"I won't stop you. Just be prepared for the worst." Catherine sighed as the two women left Archie with his mouth hanging open and oblivious to what was going on.

At The Hospital

Brass was sitting in a chair outside Greg's room, which was now the newest crime scene, when Catherine strode towards him hurriedly. Sara followed her. Wait…Sara? He'd specifically asked her NOT do bring Sara. Jim stood up as Catherine AND Sara reached him.

"Officer, shut the door please." He told an officer standing inside the doorway. After he made sure that the officer did as he was told, Brass pulled Catherine into a nearby corner.

"I specifically asked you not do bring her!!" He whispered harshly

"Jim…she was there when you called me, she heard everything from my end. What was I going to do? Say no? She loves him. We all know that. Hell, even Grissom knows it…and he lives life with his nose down a microscope!" Catherine exclaimed, throwing her arms up.

Then, both of them heard a heart-wrenching shriek…Sara's shriek. They turned to see the door wide open and Sara collapsed on the floor in tears.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Brass snarled at the officer that had been charged with keeping the door shut. Meanwhile Catherine kneeled and attempted to comfort Sara.

"What if h-he's d-deeaad??" Sara wailed, clinging to Catherine like a small, fragile child.

"Shh…no, he's not dead. There's not enough blood here." Catherine cooed, surveying the wrecked room as she rocked Sara.

Brass stood in the corner of the room and rubbed his temples. It was true. When he first hired Greg, he'd looked down on him as a lowly lab tech. Even still refusing to acknowledge him in his first months as a CSI. In time however, Brass had grown to love Greg like a son…and frankly, he didn't know what he would do if he lost this son.

Minutes later, with Sara calmed and the room processed, Brass ran his part of the evidence by Sara and Catherine.

"According to the visitors log at the nurses station, the last visitor was Hank Pettigrew…just five minutes before the 911 call. Now, a blue '07 Chevy Cobalt was also filmed leaving the parking lot at that time. License plate #VSD 02C, also registered to Hank." He finished, raising a brow at Sara, who glared back.

"We already have enough evidence to prove that Hank committed all of the Sanders Case murders and kidnappings." Catherine said

"We found a red paint foot print that was a different size from the victims. We were able to use the new A/V computer and eliminate everyone who wears size eleven Nikes…except Hank." Sara muttered the last part, looking at the floor in a daze.

"LEAVE MY SON ALONE, YOU BASTARD!!" Mrs. Sanders bellowed as Hank continued to electrocute him. He stopped briefly to retort

"Bastard? Bastard…No, I have a father. I think he's the bastard now." Hank said, turning back to Greg.

"Sanders…is it?" Hank said, lifting him up by the shirt collar.

"Do you really think that your friends will find you?" Hank asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I know they will. C'mon, you dated Sara, you can't tell me you didn't notice that she's smart." Greg said, smiling defiantly at his captor.

As Hank was about to reply, the doorbell rang upstairs.

"We'll continue this later." He spat before stalking upstairs.

"Hello officers, can I help you?" Hank asked innocently, eyeing a glaring Sara in the background.

"Yes, you can. You can tell us where Greg Sanders is." Brass spoke vehemently, glaring daggers at the Ken look-a-like.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name." Hank said, feigning innocence.

"Hank, you should really take acting lessons." Brass said with just as much feigned sweetness as Hank spoke with.

"You're under arrest." He grinned, reading Hank his rights and cuffing him.

As she watched the officers take Hank away, Sara briefly made eye contact with him. What she saw scared her. They were filled with blackness and hatred. They were the eyes of a killer.


	6. The Eyes of A Murderer

CSI is not mine

CSI is not mine. I don't own CSI or its characters. Please Read & Review. Enjoy the chapter!! )

Chapter 6: The Eyes of A Murderer

Greg sat in the cold basement, wriggling and twisting. He was attempting to free himself from his restraints before Hank came back. 'I hope all these years of watching Criss Angel have paid off.' He thought as he almost dislocated his wrist pulling his hand out of one of the cuffs. With one hand free, he used the bar he was cuffed to as leverage to open the other cuff.

"Gregory Hojem! Would you put those back on before he comes back?!" Mrs. Sanders exclaimed in fear that the mad man who had killed her family would return.

"It's been two hours mom, he's not coming back anytime soon." Greg smiled knowingly as he read a mass text message from Sara saying that Hank had been arrested. Greg's cell phone had been rigged so that it could only receive calls and text messages, but not send them. They had no way to know that he actually had his phone on him.

In Grissom's office, the team was having a meeting about the case. All eyes were on Grissom as he spoke.

"Okay guys, the computer gave us proof that Hank is our murderer, but unfortunately a computer print out isn't enough to hold him. We need to find the paint, the shoes, and the weapon." Grissom informed, scanning the room to see exasperated reactions. Grissom ignored this and went on.

"Sara, Catherine…you search his house and his car. Warrick, Nick and I will search his locker and the LVFD break room. We've got full access warrants, so search every inch. Got it?" Grissom finished his briefing and the team replied with nods.

"I took the liberty of checking your record, Hank. There seem to be a lot of unexplained disappearances among your family and friends. Can you explain that?" Brass said, walking around the table like a lion circling his prey.

Hank merely crossed his arms and replied coolly. "Nope. I don't know anything about that."

Brass stifled a sarcastic laugh and spoke. "Come on Hank, if it was in your record that means that you were at least questioned about it once before…you know nothing screams 'I'm guilty' like a cold attitude in an interrogation…except maybe running from cops." Brass joked sarcastically, trying to get a reaction out of Hank.

Catherine and Sara stood in the doorway of Hank's house, both thinking. It was a big house and they didn't quite know where to start.

"I haven't been here since I found out that I was the other woman." Sara joked grimly, looking at a picture of Hank's then fiancée on the wall. Then a thought struck her; she hadn't seen the woman at all.

"Cath, I'm gonna search in here. Why don't you take the car?" Sara said, distracted by the photo of a woman that should've made an appearance by now.

With that Catherine stepped out to go search the car and Sara began searching the house.

Half an hour later, Sara was at Hank's closet. Opening it, a pair of shox immediately fell to her feet. She picked them up and grabbed luminol from her kit. After three sprays the luminol revealed a latent stain on the bottom of the shoe. A swab test revealed it to be blood and Sara begged the shoes and the swab.

It was then that Sara heard banging from underneath her. Then, crouching closer to the floor, she heard what sounded like screams.

Greg sat in the basement with nothing to do. Since he couldn't get his mother out of her bonds and his feet were still chained, he couldn't go anywhere. After half an hour more of waiting, Greg heard footsteps above him. He screamed as loud as his lungs would allow and the footsteps stopped. He screamed again and this time the footsteps hurried towards the direction of the basement.

'Sara' Greg thought happily. Only she would know exactly where the basement was.

Sure enough, moments later Sara appeared like an angel at the top of that God forsaken attic. Greg was always happy to see her, but never more so than at that moment.

"Oh my God…Greg?" Sara half-asked, half-stated, running to him and holding him in a bone crushing hug as a giant weight lifted from her shoulders.

"You haven't been sleeping have you?" Greg asked, getting a good look at Sara for the first time.

"Only twelve hours, I haven't even been home since you were attacked."

"SARA!! THAT WAS FOUR DAYS AGO!!" Greg shrieked in worry

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Sanders spoke, drawing attention to herself. "Are we getting out of this damn basement or what?" This caused Sara and Greg to nod and laugh as Sara used some bolt cutters by the stairs to cut through Greg's chains and then his mother's.

"You find anything?" Sara asked Catherine as she walked out of the house with the remaining Sanders family in tow.

"Yeah, actually…I found the paint can AND I also found a body in his trunk." Catherine said, as she filled out some field paperwork.

"Let me guess, it was his wife." Sara said, causing Catherine to look up and see Greg.

Catherine nodded at Sara's question before her eyes fell on Greg and her jaw dropped.

Brass felt confident as he and Sara entered a second interrogation with Hank.

"So Hank how's your marriage these days?" Brass asked with a cocky smirk as Sara just glared smugly.

"It's good. We have an occasional lover's quarrel here or there, but it's fine otherwise." Hank said in a sickeningly innocent voice.

"Really? Is that why we found her dead in your trunk?" Sara countered, she was all too eager to take him down.

"Tell us about the blood on your shoes or-or the paint that matches the paint from the crime scene. What about the tazer in your locker that has the victims DNA on it?" Sara said, raising her voice slightly as she got up and stalked around the table.

"Okay, yes. I did it. So what, that Sanders kid was going for my woman." Hank said, wiggling his eyebrows at Sara.

Brass interjected there: "Hank, as I recall, Sara dumped your sorry ass two years ago because you didn't tell her you had a fiancée. I've never known her to be in the habit of dating murderers either." Brass spoke calmly but menacingly, glaring coldly at the young man.

"Oh yeah? You remember that decomp that you were called to the night we met? The bouncer didn't dump him, I did. He'd already died of natural causes and the bouncer didn't want anyone to think that he killed him.

Sara and Brass both sat awestruck at the new revelation. Brass finally regained his speech after several moments of tense silence.

"Book him officer."

"Are you okay?" Greg asked as Sara walked out of the interrogation room

"Yeah, just shocked I guess. Hey, do you wanna go get breakfast?" Sara asked looking at him hopefully.

"Later." Greg smirked "You need sleep." He said as he yawned himself.

"Okay, but you're coming with me." Sara said watching Greg shoot her a questioning look.

"We all decided its better for you to stay with someone…and I'm scared to leave you alone right now."

With those last words, Greg saw just how deeply worried Sara had been about him. It made him realize that she did love him. But, love would have to wait until his injuries healed.


	7. Christmas

Nope

Nope. I still don't own CSI. Thank you to all of my faithful readers and to everyone who has left me a review. This will be the last chapter and YES Sara and Greg will FINALLY get together. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. It's been a fun story.

Chapter 7: Christmas

It had been one week since Greg was found and Hank was arrested. He was still not well enough to return to work, but he was still staying with Sara. Greg smiled as he thought about the piles of dust that were probably collecting in his apartment.

Aside from Hank's little rampage, the holiday spirit seemed to fill even Las Vegas' most sleazy characters; however Ecklie still insisted that everyone had to come to work…which is how Greg came to find himself sitting alone in Sara's apartment, not that she didn't call every fifteen minutes. He laughed inwardly. She could be such a worrywart sometimes. As he looked out the window at the Christmas atmosphere, Greg got an idea…he flew to the door, and then realized he'd forgotten his phone and went to go pick it up. Soon, he was off on a Christmas shopping mission.

When Sara walked up to her apartment after shift, she froze. The door was open just a crack. Thinking about Greg, Sara panicked as she drew her gun from its holster.

"Is someone in there?" Sara called, holding her gun up

"Yeah Sar, it's me." Sara's shoulders dropped in relief at the sound of Greg's voice. 'Thank God' She thought to herself 'I couldn't bear losing him again.' Sara holstered her gun and walked into her living room to find Greg wrestling with a long rope of tinsel, trying to get it untangled. Then she noticed a big, thick tree in the corner of her living room.

"You know, I always hated that bare spot in my living room." She said as she helped Greg to untangle the mess of tinsel, which he had managed to wrap himself in.

"I know, that's why I put it there." He beamed at her

At some point while they were working on the tangled tinsel, both of them looked up and realized for the first time how close they really were. After a few moments of staring at each other, Greg finally said something.

"Hey Sara, look up." He spoke softly, looking up himself.

She did, and there…right above them, was a perfectly placed mistletoe. She arched an eyebrow and brought a finger to her chin in thought.

"Well it does make for nice decoration, but…" She leaned over to speak in Greg's ear "I don't need a mistletoe to kiss you Greggo." She whispered softly.

As she leaned away from his ear, she caught his mouth with hers. Greg, still in shock from her words took a few moments to return the kiss. He couldn't believe it. He'd loved her ever since he laid eyes on her and now he had concrete proof that it was mutual. As they broke apart for air, both of them were on top of the world.

"Greg…I love you." Sara said slapping him across the face.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Greg asked, holding his face.

"So you won't forget what I just said." She smirked

"Well I love you too." He smiled, pecking her on the lips.

By the time the LVPD Christmas party rolled around, everyone was glad for the break Secret Santa's had been picked (with several trades so everyone got who the WANTED to shop for.), the mood in the lab was lighter, Greg was sharing his coffee, and even Ecklie was smiling.

"Okay, Secret Santa time." Catherine announced loudly as Greg and Sara walked in the door holding hands.

"Were you two making out in the locker room again?" Warrick asked with a wide grin on his face. Sara blushed and threw a piece of wrapping paper at him and Greg just laughed evilly.

"You act like no one sees you and Catherine together." Greg said, hi-fiving Sara.

"Ooh burn!" Nick laughed, receiving an evil glare from Catherine.

After several laughs and a couple tears, it was finally Greg's turn to give Sara his gift. He walked out of the break room and came back with a small, holy, box.

"Aaaaaaww!" Sara squealed as she opened it to find a kitten. It was a smile, snow-white Persian kitten.

Sara was so busy fawning over the cat that she didn't notice the second box that Greg pulled out.

"This goes with the cat…at least half of it does." Greg said, handing it to her and taking the cat.

Upon opening it, she found a black; diamond studded collar and…a diamond ring? She looked up at Greg for an explanation.

"Sara…when you first came here, my heart was yours the minute I set eyes on you, even if yours was Grissom's back then. When I became a CSI, you were always there to support me and encourage me. When Hank hurt you…it broke my heart to see the train wreck that you became. When those kids attacked me, you were the only thing on my mind…when you came 'for me' I was happy even though I was too broken to show it. Four weeks ago, I honestly thought I was going to die when Hank kidnapped me. It terrified me that I might never see you again and I realized…Sara, that I can't live without you by my side, be it as friend or lover. Will you marry me?" Greg asked, finishing his speech.

For effect, Greg put on his puppy pout and held the cat next to his face.

"Sanders, you know I can't say no to that look!" Sara joked, trying to act tough through her tears.

"Yes, I'll marry you Greg." Sara said happily as Greg slipped the ring on her finger.

"Meow" The cat chimed in content, watching both of its new masters celebrate their engagement happily.

"Wait a minute!" Greg stopped spinning and put Sara back down.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked

"The cat still needs a name." Greg said to the laughs of Warrick, Catherine, and Nick.

Sara thought for a moment. She really wasn't good at naming things. She wondered what their kids' names would be like.

"Hmm…Fluffy?"

"Too cliché." Catherine said

"Snow-white?"

"Cliché."

"Hmm…Hojem?"

Everybody in the room looked at the cat for a few moments.

"Meow." The cat gave his approval as Sara picked him up.

"You like that, do you? Let's go home." Sara said turning to take Greg's hand.

Now Sara and Greg head home to a night of playing with a new kitten and months of preparation for living the rest of their lives together.


End file.
